


The Secrets of Time

by Emerald_Desires (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death Eaters, Death to Voldemort, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Fix-It, Hogwarts, Horcruxes, MWPP Era, Marauders' Era, Meddling with time, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Epilogue Compliant, Remus is too precious for this world, Scars, Teenage Hormones, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, maurauders, werewolf mating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2018-04-07 16:59:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4270971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Emerald_Desires
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione is given an old, beautiful locket from the Potter vaults by Harry for her birthday. As she falls asleep in her new room at Lupin Cottage, the locket does something quite unexpected. Hermione is vaulted through time to the summer before the Marauders seventh year, giving three boys the shock of a lifetime and one of them a chance at happiness.</p><p>Or:</p><p>"Uh, Moony.. Why is there a half naked bird in your bed?"</p><p>(Remus survived the war - No Tonks/Remus. Looking for a Beta!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What the Hell?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for clicking on this story. I know I'm not the best author in the world, but I couldn't resist doing a Time Travel story. Let me know what you think, I'd love suggestions for future plot points. I do need a Beta for this story as well, so if you could Beta this story I would be eternally grateful.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. All I own is my yappy chihuahua, a room full of books and a miserable old donkey that is blind in one eye. I'm not making any profit from this work.

_August 15th, 2000 – Lupin Cottage_

 

Hermione smiled as she glanced around the small room, taking in her surroundings. It wasn’t much, but to her it was perfect. She turned around and beamed at the other occupant, the werewolf stumbling slightly as she hugged him. “Thank you.” She whispered, burying her head in his shoulder for a moment in order to gain control of her emotions. 

 

She felt his chuckle reverberating through his chest and pulled back, a light blush covering her cheeks. She practically skipped into the room, running her hands over the bookshelves across one wall. The walls were a light cream and the carpets were the same dark green as the curtains, the bed draped in a homemade quilt from Mrs. Weasley. 

 

She sighed in happiness, placing her shrunken trunk at the foot of her bed and bringing it back to its original size. She sat down on the bed and faced the door where Remus stood. “It’s quite lovely here.” She said truthfully, glancing out the window. The cottage was located deep in the forest, at least a couple miles all the way around from any kind of civilization. Of course she knew why it was so secluded but the grounds were lovely and she couldn’t wait to explore them during her evening walks. 

 

“This is where I grew up.” He responded, looking around the room with a small smile on his face. “After I got bitten my parents packed up and we moved out here. Our old village was no long safe for the other kids with me there, apparently.” The smile held a slight edge of bitterness now and Hermione frowned, standing up and wrapping him in a hug once more, not noticing that perhaps he held her a bit tighter than normal. 

 

Remus closed his eyes and subconsciously buried his face in her hair, unsure as to why hugging her felt different now compared to the few times he had done so in the past. He felt oddly disappointed when she pulled away but gave her a soft smile in return before awkwardly clearing his throat. “I’m going to go check on dinner. You can do whatever you like with the room. This was my room as a teenager actually, lots of memories.”

 

Hermione looked around the room once more as if expecting to see a difference with the new information and smiled as she imagined a teenage Remus lazing around with his face in a book. She looked back at the door but he was gone already and she sighed as she leaned back on the bed. She curled up, deciding to leave her unpacking for later and have a short nap before dinner. 

 

*** 

Dinner was awkward.

 

It had nothing to do with the fact that he was her former professor (or maybe it did) but it seemed Remus was very unused to eating with other people now. Hermione was also quite unused to this. It was two years post Battle of Hogwarts and living with Harry at Grimmauld wasn't exactly the height of social interaction. With Hermione doing her NEWT levels at home and Harry in Auror training, they were practically only there at the same time while they slept.  
After Harry had proposed to his girlfriend Daphne, Hermione had decided it was time to leave.

 

Molly had of course instantly offered for her to stay at the Burrow but Hermione wanted a change in scenery. Despite relentless flat hunting, she had been unable to find a suitable place and had considered taking Molly up on her offer when Remus had offered her his spare room, free of charge. She had argued that and after much fuss they had agreed on thirty Galleons a month. Remus had said that was far too much and had tried convincing her that she didn’t need to pay him, but the nicer flats she had visited were around that cost anyways and she had plenty of money. Besides, Remus still found himself jobless often due to his condition and she didn't mind helping him out. 

 

After the war The Golden Trio had all been awarded Order of Merlin first class as well as more Galleons than they could reasonably spend as a thank you. Hermione hadn’t bothered with a Gringott’s vault either, it still wasn’t fully rebuilt after their stunt with the dragon and the idea of its safety seemed diminished after breaking into it herself. Instead, most of her wealth was kept in an extended money bag tucked inside of her beaded purse. 

 

Her beaded purse was ready to go in any situation, just in case. It was a habit she found herself unable to break even after the war. She had copies of a wide range of books on varying subjects, a Muggle lock picking kit, non-perishable food, an extra wand that had belonged to one of the fallen in the war (kept in a safe box as a precaution in case hers was ever taken), clothing, a dagger she had specially crafted with a Basilisk fang as a blade and a potions kit. She had as many potions vials (with everything from Pepper Up potion to Veritaserum) labeled and stored as she could get her hands on, as well as a book of instructions for a wide array of potions that had been hand written by Snape himself. 

 

She sighed, making her way into her new room and crawling under the covers on the soft bed. She was almost sure that Remus knew what she was up to. After all, the smell of Mandrake Leaves was strong on her breath after nearly a month with one under her tongue. He hadn’t mentioned it, thankfully, but he must have recognized the scent from when his friends had done it so many years back.  
She already knew what her form was going to be. She had done the meditations long ago and had eventually focused it enough to make out a coyote in the fog of her mind. That had confused her, as she had been expecting an otter, but even her Patronus had changed. She didn’t often use her Patronus, so she wasn’t sure quite how long it had been different but it had come as a huge surprise when the spectral canine leaped out of her wand and padded around the room.

 

Now wasn’t the time to ponder the change however. She was far too tired to even pretend to care and with tonight being the full moon, she knew her sleep was likely to be disrupted at some point. Remus had not been able to find someone to brew Wolfsbane for him for a couple of months now so even though she was safe with him locked up in the basement she would probably still hear him all night. 

 

As she slept, she was unaware of the locket around her neck (a present from Harry that he had found while organizing his family vault) glowing softly, the red light casting shadows over her face. She mumbled in her sleep, turning over with the quilt tangled around her bare legs to bury her face in the pillow. The light increased and then the locket burst open, red glittering sand released as it formed a cloud over her head and rained down to dust her skin. The sand seemed to be absorbed into a her flesh and a few seconds later a stream of vibrant red mist floated out of her parted lips, swirling quickly around her before being sucked into the locket. The two halves shut tightly once more and the room went silent as its only occupant faded away, the heavy quilt falling to the now empty bed. 

 ***

_August 15th 1976 – Lupin Cottage_

 

Remus was busy pretending to read a random tome when he heard Sirius shout, seconds before he got a face full of couch cushion. He spluttered as he heard his idiot friends bust into uncontrollable fits of laughter. With a grumbled set of choice words, he picked up the cushion and swung it into Sirius' distracted frame. The seventeen year old pureblood fell off the couch, hitting the floor with a thump. His next victim was James, who ended up sprawled next to his friend on the floor looking confused. Remus gave a short mocking laugh and set the pillow down as he stood, stretching his back. 

 

“No fair, Moony.” Sirius whined, plopping himself down onto the armrest of the couch as a grumbling James struggled to get up. “You didn’t give me any warning. Bloody cheating wanker is what you are.” Remus just chuckled and cracked his fingers and wrists, sighing in relief. With only six days to go until the full moon his joints were starting to ache around the clock. His parents were gone on a second honeymoon for a couple of weeks so James, Sirius and Peter decided to keep him company while they were gone. Peter had only been allowed to stay for a couple of days but Dorea was letting his other two friends stay as long as they wanted on the condition that all three of them floo'd over to Potter Manor for lunch everyday.

 

It was already turning out to be one of his best summers yet. The lack of furitive glances from his parents was helping to lighten his spirits slightly. He knew his parents loved him, that was never up for discussion, but he also knew that they feared him. Whether it was his mother flinching when he hugged her, his dad avoiding angering him or the two of them stopping their conversation when he joined them for breakfast it was made fairly obvious. Having that replaced with his friends boisterous personalities was a breath of fresh air this summer. 

 

All three of them made their way into the kitchen and raided the fridge for snacks, making their way to Remus' bedroom with their hands full of food. Sirius ran ahead of them down the long hallway, looking rather like an excited dog as he pushed the door open with the side of his face. However the expression changed into one of deep confusion as he looked through the doorway, eyebrows furrowed as he spoke up. 

 

“Uh, Moony? Why is there a half-naked bird in your bed?”

 

Remus, thinking Sirius was joking around, brushed past him and walked into his room. He froze as his eyes landed on the girl curled up on his bed, her slightly bushy hair covering her face, clad in only a camisole and lacy knickers. A slight blush rose on his cheeks as he stared at the skin revealed by the apparent lack of clothing. He cleared his throat and glanced away, meeting James’ wide eyes with a matching stare. 

 

“What the hell?”


	2. Back in Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for those of you who read the first chapter and left Kudos. Much appreicated. Once again, this story is without a Beta so if you notice mistakes let me know. I did my best to catch them but it's midnight and my eyes are tired. By the way, I changed the summary and fixed up the last chapter, so its quite different now. Still the same events but written differently. Also, I messed up the dates. In August 1976 they would be going into their seventh year. Not sixth. So the Marauders are going back for their final year.
> 
> Disclaimer - Unfortunately I still don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Fred, Sirius and Remus would still be alive.

When Hermione awoke she was assaulted with an overwhelming surge of panic. She wasn’t in her room anymore. The ceiling was wrong, all wrong. Her instincts took over and she shot upwards, reaching for her wand from the arm holster. She nearly screamed when her hand met bare skin instead of the piece of dragon leather that always resided there, even in her sleep. She sucked in a shuddering breath, glancing around the room. She didn’t recognize it. It took her a moment to register the other people in the room, and the fact that she was draped in a patched robe that had been loosely tied around her frame. 

Her eyes locked onto a pair of confused and startled blue ones, eerily familiar, and she took in the rest of his face. Sandy blond hair sat messily on his head, looking as though he had just woken up. He was eyeing her warily and she returned the look. When her eyes slid the next figure, she sighed in relief, shoulders sagging. “Merlin, Harry. You scared the hell out of me. Where am I?” She didn’t focus on her friend, instead glancing around the lavish room. “Who are they?” She jerked her head to the other two boys, her mind said that they were oddly familiar as well. Other Aurors? 

Harry gave her a strange look but remained silent and Hermione sighed. She glared at him, “Harry Ja-“ she cut off as she noticed something that really should have been apparent before, eyes going wide. The eyes were wrong. Hazel. Harry didn’t have hazel eyes. The nose was different too. She trembled slightly, feeling like a caged animal as she glanced around her. If she didn’t know that it was completely impossible, she would say she was looking at James Potter. Or at least, the way James Potter looked in the pictures on Harry’s wall.

Her sanity was further tested as another familiar figure entered the room. She let out a strangled squeak and jumped off the couch, barely noticing the middle boy pointing his wand at her. She stumbled backwards until her back hit the wall, staring into the eyes of one Albus Dumbledore. “P-Professor?” She stammered, her mind shrieking in agony as she struggled to comprehend what she was seeing. Albus Dumbledore was dead. He couldn’t be standing here in front of her.  
“Am I dead?” She whispered, ignoring the looks sent her way from those who heard her. Two more people entered the room behind her back, lingering in the doorway. She gripped handfuls of her hair in her hands, tears coming to her eyes. The hitch in her breath echoed slightly as she fought to control her emotions. What other explanation was there besides her being dead as well?

But how could she be dead? She had just gone to sleep. Remus was locked in the basement, unable to escape and her room was warded against strangers. “I don’t understand...” She moaned, rubbing her eyes and looking again but they were still there.

She heard someone clear their throat and Dumbledore spoke up. “Would you mind telling us your name young lady? I’m afraid you gave these boys rather a fright.” Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, “You don’t know who I am, Professor?” her tone was tinged with both awe and confusion. Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head, “I’m afraid not Miss…?”

“Granger.” She breathed. “Hermione Granger. I was your student for six years.” She rubbed her eyes again, slowly walking closer. Dumbledore looked pensive and she longed to know what he was thinking. For the first time she turned her eyes on the figures lingering in the doorway, taking them in. It was a man and a woman, both dressed in finely tailored robes. The woman had a set of pearls around her throat, her grey eyes filled with intelligence. Her black hair was pulled back from her face with expensive looking silver clips and her fingers glittered with jewels. The man, presumably her husband was tall with messy hair that was streaked with silver. He was dressed in robes of deep green with silver fastenings and stood straight and imposing compared to the slight figure of his wife.

Hermione looked back at Dumbledore and was surprised to find him smiling. She found herself slightly unnerved by it, frowning. “Miss Granger, I do find myself wondering why you seemed so surprised by my appearance. Would you care to explain?”

Her mouth went dry. What was she supposed to say? _Well you’re kind of dead, you know._ She snorted at the very thought. There wasn’t really another option though.  
She paused for a second before answering carefully, “Well, I mean, it’s not every day one begins seeing dead people. Well, I mean ghosts obviously but not like this. Not this… vivid.” Her eyes trailed over to James again and noticed how pale he had gotten at her words. She winced, that didn’t come out quite right.

She opened her mouth to explain quickly but Dumbledore cut her off. “Miss Granger, the last time I checked I was definitely alive. Now, one more question. I have a few theories, some of which seem unlikely, but I’ve yet to rule anything out when it comes to the workings of magic. My question is, could you tell me what year it is?”

She must have heard him wrong. She thought back, but no, he had asked her that. “Well, Professor, last time I checked it was 2000.” She raised an eyebrow at the collective intake of breath around the room. “Look, I’ll admit. I’m highly confused right now. I don’t know what’s going on and that’s not a feeling I like experiencing. I had dinner with Professor Lupin… Oh uh, Remus I mean. I keep forgetting he told me to call him that. And I went to bed and I woke up here. And now you guys keep looking at me like I’m crazy and you-“ She cut off her rambling to look Dumbledore in the face, pointing her finger at him in frustration, “-are asking me weird questions. Can someone explain what’s going on to me?”  
The silence that met her ears was disconcerting. She huffed and was about to start demanding answers when Dumbledore looked at her with twinkling eyes and smiled slightly. “I’m sorry Miss Granger. I’m afraid I sometimes forget to explain what’s going on in my head.” She snorted, as if she didn’t already know that. She listened anyways, looking at him curiously. 

He remained silent for a moment as if working out how to phrase his thoughts out loud but then finally began speaking. “Well, I’ll start by saying that I’ve never quite heard of something like this happening before.” He summoned a newspaper and held it out to her before continuing his explanation. “Considering that the year is 1976, I’m not dead and Mr. Lupin is still a student I think you might be slightly ahead of the times.”  
Hermione felt faint as she stared at the Daily Prophet, feeling sick. August 15th, 1976. The headline made it ten times worse. 

**Unexplained Disappearances linked to Bones Family Murder?**

Hermione covered her mouth, face paling. “Oh no.” She whispered to herself, willing the bile in her throat to go back down as she stared at the front page picture, the Dark Mark shimmering in the sky above a large white manor house. “No. This was over. I can’t be… This is impossible.” She looked at her old headmaster with watery eyes, trembling. 

She felt like her world was crashing down around her. How could she be here, in 1976? That wasn’t possible. 1976… That meant that James Potter really was there, sitting across from her and that made her nearly retch. She once again studied the sandy haired boy and felt her stomach drop. That explained why he was so familiar. “Remus…” she breathed and her face crumpled at the utter unfamiliarity there. She had come to count Remus as a friend, a confidant to speak to when Harry or Ron wouldn’t understand. To see him so young, so much less scarred was surreal but the fact that he didn’t know who she was surprisingly painful. 

Hermione turned her attention to the last of the three boys, who was watching her like she was potentially dangerous. She didn’t know how she hadn’t made the connection before. His black hair was silky and wavy, framing angular features and mischievous grey eyes that she would know anywhere. Her eyes started burning and then to her complete horror she burst into loud sobs. All three boys, who had noticed her studying them, stared in slight horror at the witch as she sobbed and Remus stood up, slowly walking over to the couch where she sat. He lowered himself onto the couch, gently resting a hand on her shoulder as he tried to console her. 

He felt like she was less likely to react badly if it was him. She had mentioned him by name before, so obviously she knew him at some point. He was slightly startled when she practically lunged at him, burying her face in his shirt and wrapping her arms around him. Dumbledore was looking at her with pity. “Poor girl is a long way from home.”  
He rubbed her back gently, feeling mildly uncomfortable. The closest thing he’d ever had to a girlfriend was a week-long fling with Mary McDonald in fifth year and so he wasn’t sure how to deal with crying girls at all. This wasn’t something that could be learned from a book. 

Eventually she pulled away, looking mortified as she swiped at her reddened eyes, her cheeks blotchy. Remus stared at her, feeling oddly breathless. Even with puffy eyes and blotchy cheeks she was quite beautiful up close. Her eyes were honey brown with flecks of gold and her curls were framing her face haphazardly in a way that seemed suit her. He felt his cheeks heat and looked away. She sniffled, muttering, “I’m sorry about that. I’m not usually one to cry. I just… this is allot to take in.”

Remus slowly removed his arm from around her, tucking his hands securely in his lap. His face was still scorching red as he remembered how he found her hours ago in his bed. He practically ran back to his friends, who were far too quiet and serious looking. 

Dorea cleared her throat and waited until she had everyone’s attention. “Boys, could you please go upstairs? I believe we have some things to discuss down here.” The boys looked reluctant but trudged upstairs anyway, grumbling all the while. She and her husband moved to the other couch, allowing Albus to sit next to their strange visitor. 

The girl looked nervous. “I don’t know what I can say. I’m so tempted to just blurt everything out because there are so many people I could save, but I don’t know if I can. What if I ruin the future completely? Even my very presence is probably changing things.” She looked distressed, causing Charlus and Dumbledore to exchange significant looks. Of course meddling with time was dangerous, but if this girl held information to save countless lives was it worth it?  
“I’m afraid I can’t quite dissuade your fears. I do not know the consequences of your presence here. But… you say that you hold valuable information. Without specifics, could you try to explain what kind of information?”

Hermione bit her lip, unsure. She found it hard to try and restrain herself, when she thought of how many people would die if she kept quiet. She swallowed roughly as she formed her words, being very careful to not reveal the details. “I know about who is going to die. I know the names of Death Eaters. I know who is spying for Voldemort and who will begin doing so and...” She hesitated, unsure if she should say this particular part. She eventually managed to get it passed her lips in a rush. ”I know how to kill Voldemort.”

Dorea and Charlus stared with wide eyes at the frail girl, wondering whether they should dare to believe her. If she truly knew how to defeat him, then she was a gift. She was worth more than anything.  
Dumbledore made a slight noise of surprise and seemed keen to study her intently. She brought a few harmless memories to the forefront of her mind, such as a newspaper title declaring the end of the war and Hermione, Harry and Ron in a group hug covered in dirt and blood. She looked directly into Dumbledore eyes and pushed at his mind to view the memories, watching as his eyes fogged slightly.

After a moment he hummed, looking bewildered. “It seems that Miss. Granger is telling the truth. I cannot find any inconsistencies in the memories she showed me. They have not been altered as far as I can tell. “  
Hermione let out a breath, leaning back against the back of the couch. She was brought out of her relief as she suddenly felt something brush against her side. She saw nothing but looked down and brushed her fingers over the spot but instead felt something hard and bumpy. She realized that whatever it was had been hit with a notice me not charm and frowned, grabbing a hold of it. She pulled on it but it tugged at her shoulder and she realized at once what it was. She grinned as her beaded bag seemed to shimmer into view and looked at it with a pleased glint in her eye. 

She had charmed it with a spell of her own invention, which essentially made the bag transport itself to her when foreign magic invaded her wards. She had thought that the spell needed more work because it hadn’t seemed to have done anything but it certainly did work if this was any indication. 

She opened the bag and was relieved to see all her emergency supplies stacked neatly when she peered inside. Having this here would make whatever she had to do a whole lot easier.  
Dumbledore spoke up once more, looking quite serious. “Charlus, we will have an emergency Order meeting tomorrow night to discuss this newest revelation. Can we meet here?” The man nodded and Hermione felt her nerves increase at the thought of meeting the order. So many of them were dead in her time. 

***

Eventually Hermione was led to a spare room for the night after it was decided that for the time being she would remain here at Potter Manor. (Vaguely, she wondered why Harry hadn’t received this place in his inheritance. Had something happened to it?) Dorea led her to the room and wished her goodnight, but Hermione felt far too worked up to sleep. She lay in the bed, feeling strange in the expensive bedding. She wasn’t used to the luxury the guest room showed off. Her mind was whirring with thoughts as she lay in dark, eyes growing heavy as the hours passed.  
Two hours later she finally succumbed to sleep.


	3. The Meeting (Also, tears. Lots of tears. )

To say that Remus had a terrible night’s sleep would be a severe understatement of the situation. In fact, he got almost no sleep at all. For some reason, his brain wouldn’t shut up. After they had found the girl Remus had quickly firecalled Dorea in her study and informed her of the situation. Then he had lifted the girl into his arms (trying extremely hard not to think about the soft skin under his rough hand) haphazardly wrapped one of his own robes around her and floo’d to Potter Manor. 

“She was just asleep in your bed? No weird disturbances in the wards?”

After a bunch of questions that none of them had been able to answer, Dorea had slipped the girls wand into her own pocket just in case and they had set her up on the couch. Remus would admit he’d been startled by the girls personality. When she had finally awoken, the manner had reminded Remus of a soldier. She had shot up and instantly reached for her wand, eyes taking in every inch and occupant of the room. 

The thing that had confused him the most had to have been the way she spoke of him. Not even thinking about the whole ‘Professor Lupin’ thing, she had seemed so fond of him even in her wariness of her situation. And she had most definitely flushed red.

Her words niggled into his brain and were distracting him immensely. Why had he been having dinner with Hermione? She was too old to still be in Hogwarts (he still wasn’t sold on the whole time travel thing, but her words had been tinged with fear and truthfulness) and he had apparently been her professor at some point. He didn’t see any reason for them to be having dinner unless…

No. She looked to be around nineteen or twenty at most, and he would have been forty by 2000. There was no way they had been on some kind of date, right? No, definitely not. There had to be another explanation. The fact that she had called him Remus meant that she definitely wasn’t his daughter (not that he’d ever be irresponsible enough to have children. He would not infect an innocent child with his curse) so he was running out of ideas. 

Another thing that was making him curious was the fact that she had been sleeping in his bed in her knickers. That kind of added to the whole date or relationship theory even if it was severely doubtful. He sighed and shook his head, leaning back against the pillow. The sun was starting to rise in the sky and he had gotten three hours of sleep at most. 

Bloody hell. Was a little normalcy too much to ask for?

***

Hermione had woken up extremely early despite how late she had gotten to sleep here. She had been woken up by the arrival of breakfast (delivered by a house elf, hmph) and had quickly eaten it and changed into a spare set of clothing she had kept in her bag. It was simple, just a pair of fitted black jeans and a Gryffindor Quidditch jersey that she had kept after Ron had broken up with her. The sight of it had made her sad and she spent a few minutes just sitting on the bed and letting out a few tears. The jersey was too big for her, having to be rolled up at the sleeves and falling nearly mid-thigh. 

She had realized it still smelt like Ron when she had hugged it to her and been struggling to stop crying when Remus had stuck his head into the room. He had looked sheepish and a bit concerned when he saw her tears but thankfully said nothing, letting her know that Dorea had sent him to bring her downstairs for the meeting. 

She sniffled and wiped away her tears, placing the mask in place that she had worn so often during the war. People were more likely to take you seriously if you put out your best strong face. That’s what she needed right now.

***  
Nearly twenty was spent in awkward silence while Hermione awaited everyone’s arrival. Some people were unfortunately late. The meeting had been moved much earlier than initially planned for reasons not explained to her. She was sitting in the room with James, Sirius and Remus and it was taking all she had not to snarl every time they mentioned Pettigrew’s name. 

It had been a fight with both James’ parents and Dumbledore in order to allow the three boys to remain for at least the beginning of the meeting. 

As it was now, Hermione knew the three were discussing her. If the tiny glances and lowered voices didn’t alert her, the fact that they had moved across the room when starting the new line of conversation would have. 

She found herself mildy irritated. After five more minutes of this she caught Sirius’ eye and raised an eyebrow. “You know, I don’t care that you’re talking about me. It’s to be expected, but you really need to learn to be more discreet. You’d think a bunch of troublemakers would be used to avoiding attention.” She rolled her eyes as the chance of them replying was wiped out by the group of adults that walked into the room, leaving them simply staring at her. 

Her breath caught in her throat as the last four people entered the room. Molly and Arthur Weasley were so young and Hermione couldn’t tear her eyes away from them. Molly had Charlie, who must have been around three, against her hip. She sniffled, eyes watering as a tiny version of Bill Weasley followed at his father’s heels. Bill had died during the war and she had been just as shaken by his death as she had been by Fred and Tonks’ untimely deaths. 

Seeing him now, so young and excitable made her chest ache. All the members of the Order had been informed upon arrival of her situation and when Molly saw Hermione eying her eldest son with both awe and immense sadness she had turned white and looked between the girl and her son.

Hermione, realizing her lapse had forced her eyes away. So much for appearing strong in front of these people. They were all eying her with apprehension, and she couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. 

She let out a shaky breath as Dumbledore called the meeting to order, the two children playing in a silenced area in the corner. He went into her situation in more detail than the briefing of before and Hermione tuned them out. Finally, it was her turn. 

She drew in a deep breath and straightened her back, fighting to mask her face again. It didn’t work. Instead she wiped at her eyes. “Where should I even start? I spent hours trying to organize my thoughts, figure out what I should say and I decided to give you the most important information. I know meddling with time is dangerous but… I keep thinking to myself about what would happen if I said nothing. So many people, good people in this room would die. My… my best friend, who will be born in four years, will lose his parents in five years. And he ensured so much grief, I would never be able to look him in the face again knowing I could have changed things and didn’t.”

She vaguely noticed her hands were shaking. Everyone was already enraptured by her tale, and it was making her stomach flip in nerves. What if they decided afterwards she was lying? No. They wouldn’t. These people trusted Dumbledore, so if Dumbledore said she was telling the truth they’d believe him. 

“Well, how about you tell everyone your name and some basic information about yourself. Then you can start at the beginning. “ Dumbledore smiled reassuringly but she just felt sick. 

“Uh- Alright. My name is Hermione Jean Granger. I was born to Muggle parents on the 18th of September, 1979.” She glanced around the room to see the reaction she received. “Now, I suppose my story kind of starts off with someone else’s story. One of my best friends, Harry James Potter, born in the summer of 1980.” 

James looked up at her, startled, and his friends just stared at her. James looked horribly pale at the thought of having a child in less than four years, but then he remembered her earlier comment about her best friend losing his parents and his stomach dropped. 

Dorea had let out a little noise of fear when she came to the same realization and buried her face in her husband’s robes, shaking.   
“The story begins really on Halloween night, 1981. I’m not sure how much I should say about Harry’s mother. Should I say her name?” She looked at Dumbledore in confusion, biting her lip. He leaned over to hear the name and then nodded after a moment of deliberation. “I believe you should in order to explain the story to its full extent. It’s up to you what you share though, dear girl. Just remember that.”

Hermione nodded and continued, “Harry looks just like his father. Almost twins despite a few minor differences. The main difference is he has his mother eyes. Bright green eyes.”

James looked like he didn’t know whether to be horrified or ecstatic as he made the connection. “Lily…” he breathed out faintly and Hermione smiled sadly. 

“Yes James. That’s correct. Now, back to the story.”

She cleared her throat, “There was a prophecy made about Harry when he was a baby. A prophecy stating that a baby with the power to destroy the Dark Lord would be born as the seventh month dies to parents who had thrice defied him. There were only two children who fit that description. The first of course was Harry. The second child was Neville Augustus Longbottom, son of Alice and Frank Longbottom. “She glanced at the two Auror trainees looking pale in the corner and felt her heart break for them. 

“For some reason, Voldemort-“ cue flinches, “-decided that Harry was the prophecy child. Or perhaps he meant to eliminate Harry and then find Neville. We will never know. Lily and James Potter hid under the fidelius charm with their infant son under a constant cover of fear. Their secret keeper was Sirius Black.” She gave the black haired book a weak smile but he was looking shell shocked.

“Sirius feared that he would be the most obvious target so he proposed a switch that not even Dumbledore knew about. At the time Remus was trying to er- gain /allies/ for our side of the war for the order.” She looked at both him and Dumbledore meaningfully and then slowly walked to Remus. She gently pulled him aside and cast a Muffliato charm around them. 

“What-“ Remus began but then she cut him off. “I need to know if the people in this room know about your lycanthropy. Or if you mind them knowing otherwise. “ Remus looked nervously around. “Only the Potters, Sirius and Dumbledore know. And apparently you. If you know why haven’t you… uh, well, run?”   
Hermione gave him a fierce look and poked her finger into his chest. “Don’t you dare, Remus Lupin.” She hissed, “You are not a monster. I am /not/ afraid of you. I will never be afraid of you for something that isn’t your fault. Got it?”

Remus swallowed, surprised at the warm feeling that flowed through him at her words, and nodded slowly. “If it is important to the story you can tell them. But otherwise I’d rather not… I don’t want them to fear me. “ Hermione frowned at him sympathetically, “I promise you that they all found out when you joined the Order after graduation. And you never mentioned any of them saying anything negative.” Remus nodded his permission albeit nervously and she gently pecked his cheek. Not noticing as he turned red, she gave him a smile and returned to the couch next to Dumbledore. 

“Alright. Now Remus has given me permission to share some information with you but I want each and every one of you to swear on your magic at the end of this meeting that you will never utter it to another soul. None of this information will leave this room without the express permission of Albus Dumbledore.” James and Sirius looked taken aback, both at how fiercely protective she was of their friend and at the fact that Remus had agreed to let her share the information in the first place.

She didn’t continue until everyone had agreed to her demands and relaxed visibly. “Now. While Sirius was propositioning the switch to James and Lily, Remus was out risking his life trying to convince the Werewolf packs to refuse Voldemort.” People looked in surprise at the Remus and although a few showed slight fear at the news, the majority looked extremely sympathetic for the ‘poor thing’. 

Hermione shook her head. “So, since Remus was busy, there was only one other person that James Potter trusted to keep him and his wife safe. Peter Pettigrew.” It was obvious that the three friends were nervous about something happening to their friend and Hermione wanted to cry. How could Peter betray them? How? 

Hermione choked back her tears. “On Halloween night, Voldemort came to Godrics Hollow. Peter had been spying for him since his graduation from Hogwarts.” The three friends froze solid and stared at her as if desperate for her to say ‘Just kidding!’ and laugh it off. “I’m so sorry.” She whispered and had to tear her eyes away from their furious and crushed expressions. 

“Pettigrew told Voldemort where the Potters were hiding so that Voldemort wouldn’t kill him. So Voldemort found the Potters cottage and burst through the door. James had been playing with Harry in the living room and didn’t have his wand on him, secure in the thought of his friend’s loyalty. He gave Harry to Lily and told her to run and stood face to face with Voldemort unarmed to give his family a chance to escape.”

Dorea had silent tears streaking down her face but both of James' parents looked fiercely proud at their sons actions. James struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. He died. He would have died in less than five years if Hermione hadn’t told them this.

“James was killed that night. Voldemort followed Lily up the stairs to where Lily had run, and she stood in front of the crib, ready to die to protect her son. Severus Snape was, at the time, also a spy for Voldemort.” James and Sirius growled menacingly, eyes flashing, “He was the one who overheard part of the prophecy and told it to Voldemort. When he realized that Voldemort was targeting James and Lily’s family he begged his master to save Lily. He begged Dumbledore to protect her too. “

“Voldemort told Lily to stand aside. He was going to let her live, as long as she handed over her child. But Lily’s love for her child was so great that she gave her life to protect Harry, evoking an ancient sacrificial magic forgotten in time. Harry’s very blood was charged with a mothers love for her son.”

“When Voldemort stepped over Lily’s body and turned his wand on Harry, Lily’s sacrifice protected him from harm. The killing curse rebounded off of Harry and struck Voldemort. Voldemort was not killed but lost his powers, his body destroyed. As a malevolent wraith he fled, leaving Harry with a scar shaped like a bolt of lightning on his forehead. Harry was brought to his only surviving relatives. Petunia and Vernon Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive.”

***

She explained everything that happened through their lives up to sixth year, involving another few bouts of shock when she softly told of Sirius’ escape from Azkaban, Voldemort’s return and then Sirius’ death. Remus looked the most shaken as he realized that he would be left with no one. 

Dumbledore’s death had earned loud, fearful outcry and it had taken quite the long while to calm everyone down. Finally she reached what should have been their seventh year. 

“Harry had been given a mission by Dumbledore before his death that me and Ron would have to join in on. Now, I have something to mention that I avoided before.” She glanced at Molly and Arthur nervously. “In my timeline I know the two you well. Right now you two have two sons. Bill and Charlie.” She smiled softly as she glanced over at the two children in their own world.  
“You two will go on to have a much larger family. In order from oldest to youngest you have Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, Ron and then Ginny. I started spending more time at The Burrow during than the summer than I did my own house.” They smiled softly at her and she felt like crying. 

“Now, the mission. We were planning on leaving after a big event due to take place. This event was a wedding. The wedding of Bill Weasley to Fleur Delacour.” Molly looked shocked at the thought of her little boy getting married and burst into tears. “However, as usual things didn’t go to plan. Death Eaters crashed the wedding. A patronus arrived from Kingsley Shacklebolt informing us of the true beginning of the war. The ministry had fallen. “

“We spent almost a year on the run to complete the mission and then returned to Hogwarts, now under Death Eater control, for the final two things we needed. Thus commenced the Battle of Hogwarts. Many people died in the war, but in the end we won. Harry defeated Voldemort and the light rejoiced. But the dead were numerous. These people, along with Lily, James and Sirius are the main reasons why I decided I had to share what I knew. The dead included so many people I knew. Nymphadora Tonks.” She paused and swallowed roughly. 

“Nymphadora Tonks died protecting Remus from the killing curse.” Remus looked saddened at his lap. He’d met Sirius’ small cousin once and the thought that she died for him made his chest ache. “Colin Creevey. Only sixteen years old. Dead. Lavender Brown died after being mauled by Fenrir Greyback. B-Bill Weasley died protecting me.”

Finally a sob broke loose from her chest and she heard Molly shriek in denial as she rushed over to her young son, clutching him to her chest.   
“Fred Weasley died from an explosion while him and George battled Death Eaters along with Percy.” Another sob from Molly for the son she was yet to have, her distress at discovering two of her children had died looked as though it was tearing her apart. 

“Fleur was killed protecting her husband’s body from further harm. Many more people died before Voldemort was destroyed and it was hard to feel victorious with such a cloud of grief over our heads. Me and Ron were together for a while but we broke up. I lived with Harry in Grimmauld place until he proposed to his girlfriend, Daphne. That’s when Remus invited me to live in his extra room. I paid him for the room, or I would have but I feel asleep in a new bed and woke up in a new time. I don’t know how I got here. “

 

Once everyone had sworn on their magic to keep the secrets revealed in this room to themselves they slowly trickled out. Hermione remained seated, silently going through her thoughts. The three Marauders were trying to comfort each other, feeling the burden of what was to come. Hermione felt bad for them, but they needed to know if things were going to change. 

When everyone except for the Marauders, The Potters and Dumbledore were gone Hermione started paying attention again. “Now, professor Dumbledore sir, there is a few things I didn’t say during the meeting. I figured the information was best kept in a small group.”

 

Dumbledore remained silent, nodding for her to continue.   
“The items that we were hunting were horcruxes. Six of them. A locket, a ring, a diary, a cup, a snake and a diadem. The final horcrux however, the one he never knew he made, was Harry. That Halloween night when his spell rebounded a piece of his soul embedded itself into Harry’s scar.”


End file.
